YemenOnline-June15,2008-Media depictions of civil strife, across the globe, feed our perceptions of fear and insecurity. Yet, shafts of light have penetrated the dark cloud that has been looming over our heads since September 11th. A June 11th article in The New Republic ? a feature on the Jihadist revolt against Bin Laden ? speaks of discord within the Al Qaeda ranks. The Human Security Brief issued by Simon Fraser University in Vancouver confirms that fatalities from terrorism have declined by a whopping 40%; al-Qaeda network has seen a major decline in popular support in the Muslim world; conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa have decreased by more than 50% from 1999-2006; and the number of armed conflicts, combat deaths, military coups and campaigns of violence against civilians have ALL declined dramatically in the past few years.

Political pundits and academics frequently opine on the state of life in Muslim-majority countries?including places like Yemen where Bridges? volunteers are actively training. Jane Novack, American housewife and ?expert? on Yemen (who, incidentally, has never visited Yemen) is a more extreme illustration of this ivory tower point of view. Click here to view the article. I want to use this blog as a means of allowing Bridges? volunteers the space to bear witness?to open a window to on-the-ground wisdom and realities?to help us all understand a little more clearly who is winning the war on terrorism.

I?m just back in Canada after several weeks in Yemen. Let me start by assuring you that I relish being in Yemen. It is a country I?ve been to over fifty times? and a place where I feel utterly at ease. Sadly, this visit was different; my quest heart-wrenching. The security situation in Yemen has never been what anyone would describe as ?dull? (though the kidnapping of foreigners by disgruntled tribes has become alluring for the intrepid traveler). But right now, there is a menacing pall over Yemen?the resurrection of an Al-Qaeda cell in this poor country that compromises the ability of Bridges, and every other humanitarian organization, to deliver training in country. My objective this visit to Yemen was to assess how Bridges can continue to deliver training in the face of mounting security risks, and emboldened fundamentalism.

Assessing the unraveling security in Yemen is tricky. You don?t want to under-react, or over-react. The war in Sa?ada (kept alive by disgruntled youth between the ages of 16-19 from the Al-Huti tribe and, reportedly, Iranian Shi?ite funds) has, quite recently, relocated south to Yemen?s capital. While I was in Sana?a, roads to Marib and Taiz were blocked; mortar fire could be heard night and day; emergency healthcare providers were grappling with the dead and injured rebel youth and Yemeni military at the police hospital in Sana?a.

And yet for me, the sense of creeping fundamentalism was even more unnerving?and not just because I am a Western Infidel whom Al Qaeda operatives had clearly targeted as ?the enemy?. My true concern lies with the Yemeni people. As a Canadian, I can choose to come to Yemen, or not. For citizens of this poor country, the changes wrought by extreme fundamentalists have the potential to be more disfiguring than the brutal scars of the Sa?ada war. Many in this country are marginally surviving; increasingly common food shortages and higher costs for fuel and other necessities of life are stretching the limits of this society. Will extreme fundamentalists fill these hungry bellies, or nourish these ravenous hopes? In whispered conversations with local men and women, again and again I heard the anger in their voices, frustration that all the steps forward taken by this courageous country in the past decade could be washed away in a groundswell of extreme fundamentalism. The 15% quota for female politicians so enthusiastically trumpeted in 2007 is now but a murmur; the call for girls? education, the training of local nurses, and the war against staggering infant and maternal mortality, all risk being drowned out by the noise of the ultra-conservative muezzin.

In discreet conversations with our local partners, we explored options for delivering ongoing training to Yemeni men and women ? via local trainers, via distance learning, via out-of-country venues, via open-source training materials. I?m satisfied that feasible solutions have been identified: Bridges will deliver pediatric emergency training for Yemeni doctors and nurses in Oman or Abu Dhabi; we?ll invite Yemeni political leaders to Canada for training; we?ll create ?open source? training programs for project management that can be imbedded by Yemenis; we?ll deliver trial advocacy training for lawyers and support to the recently-launched females in law subsection of the Aden Bar Association during at appropriate pauses in the chaos. All workable plans? all constructive steps. But how long can Bridges, or anyone else, endure in the vortex of a fundamentalist storm? Some organizations have given up. In particular, the US-Yemen relationship is tense: Yemeni are critical of the American decision to focus on combating terrorism while seemingly turning away from the need to alleviate poverty and secure food. Is this the classic dilemma we?ve come to know so well in Afghanistan: what comes first, security or development?

I also spent considerable time this visit to Yemen exploring options to engage local youth. Fundamentalism?s greatest ally is disaffected youth. Ideas were explored: how to pursue dialogue with youth within individual communities, and how to identify what entrepreneurship opportunities for youth could be supported by Bridges, and how? Youth in Yemen care about water management, food security, safe motherhood, environmental protection, alternative energy, English language upgrading, computer skills. Not a single priority shared by Al Qaeda.

As a Westerner, it is sometimes tempting to endorse the worth of our secular experiences. But, that would be imposing our values on others?hence, entirely unacceptable. Observing, firsthand, Al Qaeda?s attempts to use fear and intimidation to impose its dogma on Yemeni citizens is deeply disturbing. Choices ?for men and women?choices that have taken years to construct, can evaporate in an instant when the worth of diversity is denied.

So, who is winning the war on terrorism, in places like Yemen? There is no denying that Al Qaeda has influence; that extremists everywhere have mastered the art of fear-mongering. But, I?m betting our allies in this country?and in this war on terror?prove more resilient.

*Donna Kennedy-Glans is the Head of Bridges in Canada.